They married months later and Sheree converted to Judaism, her husband’s religion, and gave birth to her son at the age of 19.

Winton was born in Marylebone, London, on May 22 1955, and named Dale because his mother was a fan of the cowboy series Tales Of Wells Fargo, which starred Dale Robertson.

Sheree, often referred to as ‘the English Jayne Mansfield’, went on to enjoy a successful career in TV and film.

She starred alongside TV legends such as Frankie Howerd and Terry-Thomas and even made an uncredited appearance in the James Bond film Thunderball.

Sadly, she was never able to find happiness and took her own life at the age of just 39.

Speaking to Celebrity Radio about his mother’s suicide, Dale said: “The question you ask yourself funnily enough is not the one that comes from within, it’s when other people pose questions about it to you.

“And it came to light particularly when I was doing the book when people were saying did you not feel absolutely utterly totally rejected – it’s the ultimate rejection when a parent commits suicide.

“And I thought about that and I thought ‘no I don’t see it like that.’

“Is there a day that I don’t think about the situation and maybe think I could have done something about it – yes of course and I miss her terribly because she was such a strong influence on me.

“I think the bond that a mother had with her son is like no other. You only get one mother – you only get one bond once in your life.

“So that is a very unusual bond.

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“Someone else said to me are you angry with her for doing it and I thought no, I never felt angry and I never felt betrayed by her because ultimately it was her choice – and let’s not forget that when someone takes their life nine times out of 10 – 99 times out of 100 – a suicide attempt is a cry for help so they don’t really mean to do it.

“My mother tried it many times, she was forever being rushed to the hospital – stomach pumped – depression’s a terrible thing and the doctor said she means to do it one day we’re not going to be able to save her despite our best efforts.

“So I kind of was like oh no not again and this time again.

“Interestingly enough medicine has changed so much. The medicine she was prescribed at the time was so inappropriate, so wrong that in hindsight, of course if what we knew then what we know now thing would’ve been very different because they treat depression in a very different way.

“So there is a sadness to that of course but some people are hell bent on self destruction.”

“I went off the rails a little, I went a bit crazy but I pulled my act together quite quickly but the knock on effect for something like that is incredible in terms of how you conduct your life later.”